In the film directed by Courtney Hunt, who also was at the Gretna courthouse, Reeves reportedly will play a lawyer who signs on to defend a teenager accused of killing his wealthy father. Reeves reportedly stepped into the role in recent months, after Daniel Craig backed out.

So Reeves sat quietly in the fifth-floor courtroom of 24th Judicial District Judge Glenn Ansardi and watched as witnesses testified in the morning. He returned in the afternoon to watch the prosecutors and the defense attorney give closing arguments.

At first, Ansardi didn't notice the celebrity sitting in his gallery. "I didn't even know he was here," Ansardi said in his chambers, shortly before closing arguments began.

Earlier in the day, however, Reeves had introduced himself to the public defender assigned to the case, Letita Parker-Davis. "He shook my hand, and that was it," Parker-Davis said during the lunch recess.

Word of the actor's presence spread quickly through the parish government complex. Ansardi's court became a magnet for people curious to see the movie star.

It's routine for lawyers to sit in on trials only to observe their colleagues at work. But the number of lawyers in Ansardi's court Thursday afternoon was unusually high. The trial in question, although involving a homicide, was not particularly high-profile in nature.

There was no apparent disruption in the trial, and jurors weren't seen stealing glances Reeves' way. It's unclear whether jurors even knew he was there.

Reeves appeared to take it all in stride. He graciously agreed to pose for photographs with anyone who asked, in the hallway outside the courtroom and in the adjacent parish government complex.

Assistant District Attorney Shannon Swaim was among the people who got a moment of his time. She had heard courthouse gossip about his role in the movie, but she didn't know whether he would play a prosecutor or defense attorney.

"I walked up to him and said, 'I'm a real prosecutor,'" Swaim said. "He said, 'Oh really?' And we took our picture and that was it. He was very nice."